Distant Memories
by EmilyRedberry
Summary: "Deep down in her memory, something stirred. A mixture of unfocused images began running through her mind, all in a haze. There was something that stuck out like a sore thumb, just that Rose couldn't put her finger on it." Rose finds out about her past life, where she was murdered. Along with her cousins, she has to avenge her murder.
1. Prolouge

**Prologue**

"I can't let you live," he whispered.

"No, you won't! No!" she panicked.

"Yes, I will. You know too much, Emma."

"You'll… you'll be arrested." At these words, he flashed an evil, demonic grin.

"Ah, as if. As if _your_ police can catch _me_!" he took a step forward. "No one knows about _this._ No one will know what happened to _you. _Even if the ministry decides to get involved, they can't be suspicious of me."

"No, please." She whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek onto the ground. Why did she decide to get involved in this? Why had she decided to be nosy? Now she was here, facing the consequences. She knew this man wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

He took another step forward, pointing the stick- _wand_, as he called it, at her. "Sorry, but you have to go." He whispered.

She never got the chance to run. "_Avada Kedavra!"_ a ray of green light pierced the darkness, and she fell onto the ground, cold as a stone. Lifeless as a stone.


	2. A Dream

1\. A Dream

"Rose! ROSE!" Hugo jumped onto Rose's bed. "Wake up, sis!"

"Would you shut up and let me sleep?" Rose mumbled drowsily.

"Rose, its time to wake up." Hermione called. "No sleeping in today."

"Yea, mom." Rose ran a hand through her bushy red hair. "Time to get up," she said to herself.

"Morning," Rose greeted as she sat down on the dining table.

"Morning, dear," Ron replied. Rose pulled a plate of toast and jar of jam towards her.

"Mom, how are you not at work today?"

"Your booklists arrive today."

"Mom, you're the minister for magic. You need to go. Dad will take care of us."

"Are you forgetting that your dad needs to be kept in control too?"

"Hey, what did you just say?" Ron said with a playful, false anger in his tone.

"Nevermind. Neville said that you've got a new potions teacher."

"Oh. What's up with Professor Slughorn?"

"He's retiring."

"About time, too." Ron said. "Who's the new professor?"

"Belbus. Malum Belbus." The name sounded familiar to Rose.

"Have I heard of him?" She wondered.

"Might have. He gets mentioned in books." Hermione said. At that moment, two barn owls came sweeping in through the open window and landed on the kitchen counter. Rose got up immediately to untie the envelopes attached to their legs.

"Hugo, your booklist is here." She called her brother. Hugo came rushing downstairs, only to be reprimanded by Hermione for running down the stairs.

That evening, Rose did not sleep well. She dreamt of…strange things. A riverside- a half moon- a silhouette of a person-a chill down her spine-and she woke up. She had the same dream all night. She kept waking up, then went back to sleep only to have the same dream again. It was a restless night for her. Rose woke up with bags under her eyes.

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**Author's Note: This is my fist fanfiction story ever. Thanks for reading. Reviews are highly appreciated. Thanks!**


	3. 1st of September

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

2\. 1st of September

"So, how were your holidays?" Albus asked Rose. They were inside the Hogwarts Express. It was the first of September.

"Yeah, good. Where's Lily?"

"I haven't got a clue. Mind sitting in our compartment?"

"Thanks," she said, entering the compartment. Scorpius and James were inside. Albus followed and closed the door.

"Hey, Rose." Scorpius said.

"Hey, how were your holidays?"

"They were better than last year's."

"Oh, that's nice." Rose knew why he said that. After last year's adventure and the whole Delphine Lestrange drama, it must have been a peaceful vacation for Scorpius and Albus.

Rose took the window seat. She pushed her trunk below the seat and kept her backpack beside her. "Hey, d'you know Slughorn retired?"

"Yeah, dad told me." Albus said. Just then, the compartment door slid open and lily and Hugo entered.

They spent the rest of the journey playing exploding snap and wizard chess. When the trolley witch arrived, all of them paid collectively to buy chocolate frogs, pumpkin pie and a variety of sweets. Last year's adventure had brought the cousins together, and even Scorpius was accepted in their group.

Soon the train arrived on the Hogsmade station. Rose, Albus, Scorpius, James, Lily and Hugo climbed onto the horseless carriages, which, according to James, were actually driven by Thresals.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, First years. To our old students, welcome back." Professor McGonagall, the Principal of Hogwarts, addressed the crowd in the Great Hall once the sorting ceremony was done with. "There will be time for speeches. For now, let's have dinner." She walked back to her seat, beside a man Rose noticed was present there for the first time. A chill went down her spine for reasons she could not understand. This man was middle aged, with light brown hair and a dog like nose, which gave him the appearance of a cartoon character. He wore dark green robes. The man appeared vaguely familiar to Rose.

She was distracted from the man as huge piles of food appeared on the table. She stacked her plate with roasted potatoes, lamb chops, and every other dish within reach.

"what do you think of the new professor?" James asked.

"Sorry, who?"

"The man beside McGonagall."

"Oh. So he's a professor."

"Looks like a character out of a muggle animation film."

"James, that's rude."

Rose had an unsettling dream that night. A riverside-half moon-silhouette of a man-a chill down her spine-she tried to move, but couldn't-a flash of green light-she woke up. Rose recognized the dream. It was the same one which she had that night during the holidays. Only this time, she did not keep waking up in the middle of the night. There was something new this time- the flash of green light.

That was so similar to what Uncle Harry dreamt of when Voldemort was after him. Rose shrugged of the unsettling feeling and got out of bed. She opened her trunk and fished out her school robes. This was the start of a new year. Her fourth year.


	4. First Day

3\. First Day

Albus rolled out of bed. "Scorpius! Hey, Scorp! Wake up!" He slapped Scorpius' cheek and snatched away his blanket.

"Al. Good Morning."

"Morning. Now get yourself out of bed, you don't want to be late." Albus said as he walked back to his own bed and opened his trunk. He fished through the mess to look for his school robes.

"Didn't you make at least some effort to organize that over the summer?"

"No, I didn't. Ah, here they are." He pulled out his robes, along with which a few more clothes fell out which he hastily shoved back into his trunk and slammed it shut.

* * *

In the Great Hall, Rose saw Albus and Scorpius approaching. She paused talking to Carrie Johnson and waved to them. They waved back and starting walking towards her.

"Hey, Rose!" Scorpius greeted with a smile.

"Hey," She smiled back.

"So, what's your timetable?" Albus asked. Rose pulled out a piece of parchment.

"For today, first Charms then Transfiguration, and Potions then double Herbology and finally Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Cool, we've got Potions together!" Scorpius smiled a little too enthusiastically.

"Yeah, right. Bye, see ya!" With that, Albus dragged Scorpius to the Slytherin table. "Don't act over friendly." He hissed in his ear.

* * *

After breakfast, Albus and Scorpius walked to History of Magic. After about fifteen minutes of Professor Binns' lecture on goblin wars, both of them decided they can't listen anymore and spent the rest of the class playing games on a piece of parchment.

When the bell rang, they walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The teacher was a short, balding wizard. They learnt about a spell which is used against particularly nasty pixies. Albus succeeded in paralyzing his pixie by the end of the class, while Scorpius only managed to stiffen its legs which caused the pixie to flutter its wings angrily in its small cage without being able to fly.

Soon it was lunch time, and the boys went to the Great Hall. "That was good enough for your first attempt." Albus told Scorpius. "That was better than most of the class. Did you see McCarthy? At least your cage did not open up and the pixie did not sting your nose like his did."

"Hey, Al and Scorpius," They were interrupted by James. "How's your first day?"

"Up till now good. What've you been up to?"

"Hm. I need to be up to something soon. Got any ideas?"

"We don't know. You're James Potter. Come up with something."

"Hey, by the way, did you have potions yet?"

"Right after lunch."

"The new professor's not bad, you know."

"That's good. Does he have a Slug Club too?"

"No."

"That's awesome! I was getting tired of being 'Harry Potter's son' and Scorp wasn't in it either."

"Yeah, I was getting quite tired of that too. See ya!" with that, he walked away to the Griffindor table. Scorpius saw Rose and unintentionally, a smile appeared on his lips.

"What're you looking at?" Albus looked from the Griffindor table to Scorpius. Scorpius shook his head.

"Nothing. Let's go, I'm starving."


	5. Potions

4\. Potions

Rose walked with Carrie to the dungeons. The Griffindors and Slytherins were standing in two separate lines in front of the potions classroom. Scorpius and Albus arrived sometime later. Scorpius smiled at Rose while Albus acknowledged her with a nod.

"You know, I think Malfoy-" Carrie began, but Rose cut her off.

"Yeah, I know, Carrie. You don't have to say it. I turned him down last year."

"Oh, okay."

Rose felt mildly irritated at Scorpius. Just because she agreed to be friends with him doesn't mean that he had to act over friendly with her. Maybe she should've just continued treating him the way she had done earlier.

At that moment, the classroom door opened and a man with light brown hair who looked more like a cartoon than a wizard appeared before them. "Come inside," Professor Belbus had a deep voice and spoke with a Scottish accent. Rose was expecting a cartoonish squeak. The voice, too, was vaguely familiar. Rose had a feeling she had met him somewhere before.

As soon as Rose entered the classroom, an unsettling feeling washed over her. She was hit by a strong smell of herbs. The smell, too, was familiar. No one else seemed disturbed, so she tried to shrug off the feeling as she sat beside Carrie on a table in the middle row. "Good afternoon, class. I am professor Belbus, and I will be teaching you Potions. Now, I assure you that will be good friends, and if you have any queries regarding Potions please feel free to approach me." He looked around the classroom carefully. He then walked to his desk. A cauldron was present on his table. "This, students, is a potion that is usually used to cure common cold. Most of you would have had it in the hospital wing at some point. Could someone tell me what this is?" About five hands went up, one of which was Rose's. Professor Belbus looked at Rose. "Yes, miss?"

"It's Pepperup potion, sir."

"Correct answer. May I know your name, miss?"

"Rose Weasely."

"Miss Weasely, then. Five points to Griffindor." Rose sat down. "Today, you will be making Pepperup potion. You have one hour. By the end of the class, I want all of you to put a sample of your potion in a vial, label your name and put it on my table. Instructions are written on the board. Your time starts now."

Rose pulled out her cauldron and ingredients needed from her potion making kit. The class was filled with noises of people rummaging through their bags, the metal clank of cauldrons and soon, the class was silent as students focused on getting their ingredients in the right proportion. Professor Belbus watched over the class and occasionally peered inside a student's cauldron or guided them through doubts.

Rose looked from the blackboard back to her cauldron. Till now, her potion had turned a dull brown colour, just as it was supposed to be. She chopped a magical herb and added exactly one gram into her potion and stirred it clockwise eight times. The potion started showing hints of green. She then reduced the flame by two notches and left it to simmer till it turned neon green. "How did you do that?" Carrie peered into her cauldron and then her own. Her potion had turned a dull yellow instead of brown.

"How many drops of dragon's blood did you add?"

"Four, just as instructed."

"And then?"

"Stirred it clockwise two times."

"Read the step out loud to me,"

"After adding the dragon's blood, stir the potion anticlockwise two times-oh, wait. I get it." Carrie smiled sheepishly. "My bad,"

"Do you need any help, girls?" Belbus walked over to them.

"I…I think I made a mistake, professor," Carrie said. She explained her error to Belbus. While he explained her a way to fix it, Rose's potion had turned a bright, neon green colour.

"Professor Belbus, my potion is ready." Rose said. Belbus looked at her with mild surprise.

"Are you sure you have got everything correct?" He asked.

"I hope so," Belbus looked into her cauldron, stirred it, took out one teaspoon of it and sniffed. He then gazed at Rose with an expression of mild admiration. "Merlin's beard, this is perfect! You have made a correct peperrup potion with fifteen minutes to spare." He smiled at her. "Fifteen points to Griffindoor."

Scorpius hid behind his textbook to hide the fact that he was smiling. "Get yourself together, mate," Albus said. "She is Rose Weasely. She is going to get full marks in every subject. It's about time you get used to it." Scorpius tried his best to suppress his smile and focus on his potion, which was still black in colour.

"So, what am I supposed to do now?" he asked Albus.

"Add four drops of dragon's blood and stir it anticlockwise two times." Scorpius did so.

"Is it supposed to turn lighter in colour?" He asked as the potion began losing colour and showing hints of brown.

"It's supposed to turn dull brown."

The bell marked the end of class, and Rose gathered her stuff together and waited for Carrie to clear her desk.

"Well done, miss Weasely." Belbus said.

"Thanks, sir."

Professor Belbus turned back to his desk to gather all the vials of potions together with a flick of his wand, and with another flick the vials magically arranged themselves in a cabinet."You seem like a bright girl."

Something about this statement sent chills down Rose's spine. The herb smell suddenly became much more evident to her. Deep down in her memory, something stirred. A mixture of unfocused images began running through her mind, all in a haze. There was something that stuck out like a sore thumb, just that Rose couldn't put her finger on it.

"Rose? ROSE!" Carrie snapped her fingers before Rose's eyes and she came out of her thoughts abruptly.

"Yeah?" Rose shook her head in an attempt to shake her thoughts out of her mind and drag herself back into present.

"Let's go." She followed Carrie out of the classroom, her mind still on the strange feeling she had upon hearing that one statement, 'You seem like a bright girl.'

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**Author's Note: Sorry for the VERY late update. Been busy. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Leonbrigh

5\. Leonbirgh

Rose was in a countryside. A signboard nearby said 'Welcome to the Village of Leonbrigh, Scotland'. It was nighttime, and the only light available was the moon and her torch. A hyena appeared out of nowhere right in front of Rose. She let out a shriek and tried to run, but the animal turned away from her and walked a few paces in the opposite direction. Before her eyes, it stood on its hind legs, its limbs along with its entire body grew in size and turned more and more human like until finally what was standing before her was a man. As wild it may sound, that was just what happened. Rose stood paralyzed on the spot.

The man turned towards her. He had a dog like nose and light brown hair which flowed down to his shoulder. "Hello, Adams," He said as he looked at Rose. "Emma Adams, the girl who decided to get involved in everything. The muggle who could not mind her own business. You have figured out a lot single handedly. I hate saying this, but you seem like a bright girl." He tilted his head to the left observed Rose carefully. She wanted to run away, knowing that he would chase her. With some luck, she might be able to get inside the village before she was overtaken. She might be able to make enough noise so that the villagers are woken up. Then, even if something happens to her, he would not get away.

At the exact moment she turned, the man exclaimed, "_Stupefy!_" and suddenly, she could not move a muscle, no matter how hard she tried. He walked closer to her. "There's no use trying to run." He raised a stick. "_Lumos!_" The tip of the stick glowed. "This wand can do more things than the entire village combined." He said. So it was a _wand_. An actual wand, and not those magic show ones. "Now, let's get to business." She waited for something to happen, but Malum Belbus did nothing other than circle her and come right back in front of her eyes. She still could not move a muscle.

"What you have seen is a big, big secret. You have not only discovered the magical community, but also gathered enough knowledge about me to have me sent to Azkaban. Prison. A life sentence. For this, I had considered killing you." Her stomach turned over. "But I will spare you, if you satisfy my condition. Do you want to live? Oh, wait, you can't move, but no one wants to be murdered. So, my first condition: you will not speak of whatever you have discovered to anyone. Not one single soul. You will also not try to communicate in any way with any wizard or witch. Number two: You will not investigate into this case any further.

In short, you will pretend this never happened and continue living your life like a normal muggle. If you violate these conditions, then," He ran a finger across his throat, "You are dead. _Ennervate_! Don't move. Do you agree to my conditions, or do you want yourself killed at this very moment?"

Rose was shaking from head to toe. She breathed deeply. "Yes," she managed to say in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, I agree, or yes, murder me?" He stared at her with dangerous eyes.

"Yes, I agree." She said.

He moved a few paces away from her. "I have magical means of keeping tabs on you. One mistake, one slip, and your life is over. It is better if you decide to forget about this. After all, you are only fourteen. You can live a happy life, Emma Adams, if you keep your nose in your own business. Now, go."

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**Author's Note: Thanks for reading!**


	7. Second Dream

6\. Second Dream

Rose woke up in her dormitory. She was breathing deeply. It had been nearly one week since the term started, and she had the same dream each night. It was disturbing. Professor Belbus seemed like a decent man if she ignored the unjustified creeps she got from him. Thanks to the dreams, he was appearing increasingly creepy to her.

She was struck by a new thought. What if these dreams meant something? If she had ever learnt something from Uncle Harry, it was that one should never ignore strange, reoccurring dreams. It was a Saturday, so she could lay in bed analyzing every detail about her dream without worrying about being late to class. She was surprised at how vivid the dream was, almost like a memory. She sat up and picked up a piece of parchment and a quill to write down whatever detail she remembered before she forgot about it.

**Emma Adams, 14 years, muggle  
Leonbrigh, Scotland  
Belbus is an animagus  
Animagus form: hyena  
Belbus did something to earn him a life sentence in Azkaban  
Adams found out  
Belbus threatened to kill her  
_I_ _was Emma Adams_(?)**

The first thing she had to do was to find out whether there was an actual village named Leonbirgh. Or maybe, the easier option was, to find out whether Belbus was an animagus. She would go to the library and check the names on the ministry's list of registered animagi.

She felt stupid taking a dream so seriously, but what if there really was a meaning to it? What had uncle Harry experienced in his dreams? Who was Emma Adams and is she still alive?

She wondered whether she should write a letter to uncle Harry regarding this. Or maybe to her mum. Well, if Belbus is really an animagus, then maybe her dream really has a meaning, and she should write a letter about it. If not, then she has an overactive imagination.

However, she felt that she had to talk to someone about it. It was just a gut feeling. She felt that someone should know what she was up to. Albus and James. She had to talk to Albus and James. Rose rolled out of bed. Time to get to business.

* * *

Rose had her breakfast in silence. Carrie knew something was wrong with her. "Rose, are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am fine." Rose had too many things on her mind to talk to anybody. James had not arrived in the Great Hall yet. He was probably still sleeping. She couldn't spot Albus on the Slytherin table either. She looked at the entrance expectantly, and saw Scorpius entering the hall. Albus wasn't with him. She jumped up from the table. "Carrie, I'm coming in a minute." She almost crashed to Scorpius. "Scorpius!"

"Um, hey, Rose."

"Where's Al?"

"Sleeping."

"Can you throw him out of his bed for me? I want to talk to him."Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Please, tell him I am searching for him." Scorpius noted that she appeared anxious. Something was bothering her.

"Okay," Scorpius turned on his heels and walked back to the dungeons. He was curious as to what was it that Rose wanted to tell Al.

"Al, get out of bed!" Scorpius pulled Albus' curtain aside.

"No." Albus turned over in his bed and hid his face in his pillow. "It's Saturday."

"Rose is searching for you."

"Let her search."

"Al, she seems worried. She's your sister. Go talk to her." Albus raised his head and squinted at Scorpius.

"What's bothering her?"

"I don't know. Get out of bed this instant or I am hexing you."

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated.  
PS: By the way, Malum means 'bad' and Belbus means 'hyena' in Latin.**


	8. Helping Hands

7\. Helping Hands

"So, what's it?" Albus asked rose. They were in the great hall. Scorpius was standing beside Albus and James had finally woken up and was sitting beside Rose. Carrie had left to finish her Transfiguration essay.

"I really need to talk to you. Both of you." She looked at James.

"Is it urgent?"

"Yes it is."

Scorpius looked from Albus to James to Rose. "Well, I think I'll go, then. You guys talk…" he said awkwardly.

Rose felt a bit guilty for leaving Scorpius out. "Wait! I guess you can stay, if you want to." She said. "Let's go somewhere with less crowd."

"I am having strange dreams," she said. They were sitting by the lake. There were students here, but they sat well out of earshot. "I sound silly, but I'm having really strange dreams."

"Like what?"

"I am a muggle, I discovered the magical world, and Belbus is an animagus who told me that if I don't keep my mouth shut about something he did, he'll kill me." Rose looked up to examine the three of them. James burst into laughter. Albus was suppressing a smile.

"Really, Rose?"

"James!" she said angrily. "I know I sound silly, I don't even know why I am taking a dream so seriously, but I need help from you guys."

"Go ahead, rose. What can we do for you?" Scorpius was trying to be serious, but his lips were twitching. "Sheesh, James, stop!"

"Thanks, Scorpius. Listen now, the three of you. I need to know if there exists a village called Leonbrigh. If so, is it a muggle town or a magical one? And I want to know if Belbus really is an animagus."

"Whoah, you're serious!" Albus said. "I thought this was some joke."

"Okay, then. Get up and go if you think this is silly."

"No, wait, that's not what I meant!"

"No offense Rose, but d'you actually think your dream has a meaning?"

"That's what I am trying to find out. Help me, please?"

James sighed. "Okay. We're here for you. What do you need help with?"

"I am going to the library, to see the Ministry's list of registered animagi, and you find out if there's a village called Leonbrigh."

"Where in the world is that village going to be?"

"Oh, yeah, its Scotland, so you don't have to look very far." Hogwarts was in Scotland too.

"Can you tell me what the exact dream was?" Albus asked. What Rose was doing did not make sense, but he knew Rose wasn't the kind of person to overreact to every little thing. She was Hermione's daughter. She might have a reason behind this. Besides, Scorpius was going to enthusiastically participate in what she's doing, so he can't back off anyways. Rose explained every little detail of her dream, from the signboard saying the village's name to Belbus' warning. Then she mentioned another dream where she was the same muggle girl and was murdered by a wizard. They seemed like pretty vivid dreams. He was surprised that she remembered every little detail. When she was finished, Albus exchanged a glance with Scorpius. "That must've been a very vivid dream." Scorpius said.

"Yeah, it's strange that I remember so much of it. I'm having the same dream for the past week."

"Okay, so we need to find out if this village exists. How exactly?"

"Just search for villages in Scotland. You should get it in the library. It's going to be a busy weekend."

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated.**


	9. A Little Hope

8\. A Little Hope

"Rose is out of her mind," James said. They were in the library.

"Yeah, I know. But, well, we can't help it." Albus said as he leafed through the pages of _A Wizard's Guide to Muggle Scotland._ He was reflecting upon what Rose had said. He was beginning to get the feeling that she was, indeed, overreacting to something so simple.

"Belbus threatened to kill a Muggle girl. Belbus. Really?" James did not think of Belbus as evil. Or anything close to that. Yes, he was a Slytherin, but so were Albus and Scorpius. "We're wasting our time." He was looking through _Magical Travel Guide To Europe_.

Scorpius was looking through _Scotland's Towns: Everything Magical and Muggle. _He turned to the very last page- where the list of cities, town and villages were listed. The main book only held information a travel guide would need. As he skimmed though to find any place beginning with an L, his eyes fell upon just what he was looking for: 'Leonbrigh'.

"I…I think I found it," he said in a low voice. "Leonbrigh."

Albus peeked into the book. "Where is it?" Scorpius pointed at the name of the village. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that."

"Thank heavens, finally." James shut his book. "Lets go to Rose and show this to her." Just at that moment, Rose walked in with a dejected look on her face.

"Lets go, I was getting too excited. No name anywhere." She said with a defeated sigh.

"No, Rose, the town exists!" Scorpius said. He showed the book to Rose. She had given up hope. With an hour of searching, she had not found any hint of Belbus being connected to Hyenas, let alone be an animagus. All her efforts of convincing the librarian to let her look though the ministry's records had been a waste.

She looked from Scorpius to the book and back to him. "Thanks," she said.

"It says that Leonbrigh is a small, isolated muggle village near Hogwarts. The only thing special about it is that it is the nearest to Hogwarts out of all muggle places." Scorpius said.

Rose smiled faintly. "Finally," She said. "I am so, so sorry for ruining your Saturday, guys. Thanks so much for your help. Lets now go somewhere and relax for a bit, if you want?"

"Yeah, sure." Scorpius said almost immediately. Rose smiled at him.

"C'mon, then. You guys in?"

"Yeah, sure." James said. Albus followed them. They once again went to sit by the lake.

"So, you're going to investigate more?" Scorpius asked

. Rose sat beside him.

"Yeah, I have a hope, you know. I've never heard of the town, yet it sounds so familiar. You know what I am trying to say? It sounds, like, unknown and known at the same time, how do I… nevermind, I am not making any sense." She picked up a stone and threw it in the water.

"Where will you get the information on Bebus' personal life?" James asked.

"Dunno." She replied.

"You know, we could talk to Hagrid. I wanted to visit him anyways." James suggested.

"And how exactly will you say it? Hello, Hagrid, we wanted to stalk a professor, we need your help?" Albus said.

"Nah, idiot. We don't have to reveal what we're up to." James got up. "C'mon,"

"It's not a bad idea, actually," Rose said, getting up as well. "Scorp, c'mon."

Scorpius cringed internally. "Well, I don't think he'll like me. I'm a Malfoy."

Albus grabbed Scorpius' arm. "Don't be silly. You stopped the dark lord. I wanna visit him too. It'll be the first time I'm visiting him." He smiled wryly. He'd been a jerk for the last three years. It took a dangerous adventure of travelling forty years back in time to Godric's Hollow to put him back into his senses.

"What, you've never- oh, yeah." Rose began but stopped as she remembered the old Albus. Being the only Slytherin in the family had wrecked his senses. She was happy that he was himself again. The way he was before Hogwarts. "Come along Scorp, I swear he'll not kick you out of the window."

"Okay fine." Scorpius surrendered and allowed himself to be dragged along with the cousins.


	10. Hagrid's Hut

9\. Hagrid's Hut

The four of them walked towards Hagrid's hut. James knocked on the door. They heard a dog barking, followed by "Get outta the way, Fang, move! Lemme open the door!" in Hagrid's gruff voice. A few seconds later, the door of the hut opened and the large form of Hagrid emerged through the door. He was twice the size of a normal man. His beard and hair were gray now. "Hullo, Rose an' James! Come in, come in! Been wonderin' when yeh would show up!" he greeted them enthusiastically. "And yeh must be Albus, am I right?" Albus nodded and shook Hagrid's enormous hand. "Nice to finally see yeh comin' at my place. And may I know yer name?" he asked Scorpius.

"I am Scorpius Malfoy." Rose observed Hagrid carefully. There was a slight change in his expression, but he shook Scorpius' hand and guided him in. They sat at the dining table while Hagrid poured water into a pot and set it on the stove to boil.

"How 'er yer vacations, then?" Hagrid asked.

"Better than last year's," James said.

"Make yerself at home, Albus. Nice to finally se yeh comin' over at my place," Hagrid said again. "Yeh ar' much like yer dad. I heard 'bout yer adventure from 'Arry. He was up to crazy stuff to when he was yer age." Albus smiled.

"I wouldn't have managed it without Scorpius." Albus said. "Did dad tell you what crazy mess we got into?"

Rose observed a tiny glint in Hagrid's eye. "Ya, he did. Ya two get alon' very well, eh?"

"They're the reason Uncle Harry and Malfoy get along well too nowadays." Rose said in an attempt to convince Hagrid that Scorpius is different from young Draco Malfoy. Hagrid smiled. He was not hostile towards Scorpius in any way, but he was curious. He asked a lot of questions to Albus and Scorpius as he poured tea into large mugs and set them on the table. James was more interested in playing with Fang than following the conversation.

"So, how ar' yer classes goin' on?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah, good. I'm curious about the new potions teacher, though." Albus directed the conversation to Belbus as he remembered what they were here for.

"Why, what's it? Is Belbus treatin' you bad?"

"No, he's fine, but he seems like an interesting person." Albus replied. He exchanged a glance with Rose. James pricked his ears as he heard the word 'Belbus'.

"Oh. He's talented. Very talented. Could conjure a corpeal patronus at seventeen years of age, without the aid offa teacher! Tha's hard stuff, ya know. Very good fer a person who comes from a deserted muggle village."

"What village does he come from?" Rose asked, leaning a bit forward.

"I think 'tis Leonbri'h. Not very far from Hogwarts." A silence embraced the room. All faces were on Hagrid. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Wus the problem? Did I say somethin' bad?"

"No, no. I think I've heard of it. Somewhere." Rose said, picking up her mug of tea again.

"Really? Surprisin'. Not many wizards know offit."

"Never mind." Rose shook her head. "Did Lily and Hugo drop by?" she asked, trying to change the topic. They remained at Hagrid's place for quite some time. It was lunchtime when they returned.

"So, did you like Hagrid?" James asked.

"Yeah, I think we'll get along well."Albus said.

"See, Scorpius, it wasn't that bad." Rose said.

"Anyways, did you process that? Belbus comes from this Leonbrigh town. Your dream really is accurate, Rose." James said.

"Spooky." Scorpius commented.

Rose was lying awake in bed at night. She could not sleep. She was processing the events of the day. She shook of the horrid thoughts of Malum Belbus and tried to sleep.

After a long time, when she did fall asleep, she dreamt of the events that had taken place during the day. Telling Scorpius that he could join her, Albus and James; Scorpius telling her about Leonbrigh in the library; sitting with Scorpius, Albus and James by the lake; observing Scorpius observing Hagrid's hut…

Then the scene shifted abruptly to a dark countryside. A signboard nearby read, 'Welcome To the Village of Leonbrigh, Scotland'….


End file.
